Traditional climbing
Type of rock climbing / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Traditional climbing (or trad climbing) is a type of free climbing in rock climbing where the lead climber places the protection equipment while ascending the route; when the lead climber has completed the route, the second climber (or belayer) then removes the protection equipment as they climb the route.[1] Traditional climbing differs from sport climbing where the protection equipment is pre-drilled into the rock in the form of bolts.[2]
Traditional climbing carries a much higher level of risk than bolted sport climbing, as the climber may not have placed the protection equipment correctly (while trying to ascend the route), or there may be few opportunities to insert protection equipment (e.g. on very difficult routes). Traditional climbing was once the dominant form of free climbing, but since the mid-1980s sport climbing (and its related form of competition climbing) has become more popular, and all subsequent grade milestones in rock climbing have been in sport climbing.
From the early 2000s, there was a resurgence in interest in traditional climbing as climbers began greenpointing sport routes (e.g. Greenspit), and also as new milestones in traditional climbing routes were established (e.g. Cobra Crack by Sonnie Trotter and Rhapsody by Dave MacLeod). Leading female climbers such as Beth Rodden were setting 'trad' grade milestones at the same level as the men. By 2024, it was leading sport climber Adam Ondra who confirmed one of the first-ever E12 routes as being James Pearson's Bon Voyage.